[Guide] Fun with feature signs

I'm well aware that we have a wiki page which explains these concepts, but I also noticed that some players still overlook that. So I figured: why not add a guide

We all know what feature signs are I hope? If not then relax and read on, you may like what you're about to discover! And even if you already are familiar with these I'd still suggest to continue reading: you might just learn a new trick or two

What are feature signs?

Feature signs are regular signs which you can place on your residence to "do" something. This can vary from teleporting players to a certain location, showing a message or giving them a quick peek inside a chest. You can recognize a feature sign from the first line: it will show the name of the sign within square brackets. For example: [ HOME ].

A collection of several feature signs.

Activating a feature sign

A feature sign can be used, or activated, in multiple ways. The most obvious (and also easily overlooked) is to simply right click on it. This is commonly used when players place preview signs on or near their chest(s): right clicking such a sign will show you the contents of those chests.

Another way is to have players walk over them. Just place a feature sign, then place a block on top of it and as soon as players step onto the block they will activate the sign. Like so:

One more step and Aya would be teleported to the wastelands, go get me some diamonds Aya!

You can also set it up so that players need to push a button in order to activate a sign:

Wardle is about to be teleported to the other wastelands (/waste w)

Some fun with feature signs(as in: some features you might not be aware off)

If you want to display a message to players then you can use a message sign. A message sign needs to sit on top of a chest which has a book (or a book and quill) inside, and as soon as the sign is activated it will display the contents of the book (up to 3 lines or 256 characters). By default the text will be shown in yellow:

... but did you know that you can also change its color?

It's a supporter feature: the trick is to use the same color codes which you'd use on a sign. How to know what color codes you can use? Simple, use /color in-game, that will show you a list of all the available color and formatting codes:

So: if I want to display boldred text on a sign I'd use: "&4&lBold red text" (without the quotes). &4 makes text colored red and &l would make the text bold. You can see the 4 and l mentioned in the picture above.

You can use this same approach for a colored message.

Which brings me to my other trick: did you know that teleport signs can also display messages, just like message signs do? To set that up all you need to do is place a chest with a book and quill as if you're using a message sign, but instead you'll be placing a teleport sign:

Here I've placed a teleport sign above a chest, the teleport sign itself will teleport you to the residence of Shiyvah, a dear friend of mine. In the chest I've placed a book which tells you that you're about to visit Shiy's residence. To make sure you'll notice that she's a difference player I'm showing her name in bold purple.

This is what I'd paste into my book and quill:

Code:

You're about to visit &d&lShiyvah's&e residence!

First I'm using &d to make the text purple, then I'm using &l to make it bold. And finally I'm using &e to turn the text back to yellow again.

As soon as someone activates my teleport sign while I'm a supporter then you'll see the message:

Some other cool signs to be aware off...

Waste sign

You're out mining with some friends (or alone) and there just isn't enough time to continue. You quickly use /loc to see what wasteland area you're in, but what could be a good way to remind yourself to visit there again? Well, why not use a waste sign?

If you put "waste" (without the quotes) on the first line of a sign you'll create a waste sign; this transports you to the wastelands. Either a random location (like /waste would do) but you can also add a direction on the second line, such as e, w, n (east, west or north).

Send your friends home!

Placing a sign which has "home" on the first line will create a 'home sign'. This will send players to their first residence (the one they teleport to when they use /home).

Server sign

You can also send players to another server. Simply create a sign which says 'server' on the first line (as always without the quotes) and the name of the server on the second (smp1, smp2, ... or utopia). Keep in mind though that this sign cannot be activated by stepping over it.